Employment Agency Owners in Georgia Indicted

The employment agencies—New Fuzhou, Zhong Mei and Lucky—allegedly placed the workers in mainly restaurant jobs in South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Mississippi and Georgia, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Several employment agency and restaurant owners in Georgia were indicted on suspicion of conspiring to induce undocumented workers to enter and remain in the United States, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced last week.

The employment agencies—New Fuzhou, Zhong Mei and Lucky—allegedly placed the workers in mainly restaurant jobs in South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Mississippi and Georgia, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The employment agencies were based in Chamblee, Georgia, and owned by Chun Yan Lin, 44, of Chamblee; Ai Lin Fu, 40, of Norcross, Georgia; and Pili Chen, 55, of Tucker, Georgia, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Another person arrested Thursday, June 3, Chunbiao Xu, 33, of Norcross, faces the same charges as the employment agency owners.

Others named in the indictment were restaurant owners who allegedly used the undocumented aliens, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The restaurant owners include Xiang Mei Ke, 32, of Duluth, Georgia, and Jing Xing Jiang, 42, of Lawrenceville, Georgia. Two other restaurant owners were also arrested Thursday, including Liang Feng Chen, 32, of Duluth, and Sau Ting Cheng, 41, of Duluth, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“These defendants allegedly provided jobs that frequently exploited the workers by subjecting them to long shifts, six days a week, often with substandard pay and living conditions,” said U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “On top of that, the defendants took large deductions from the workers’ pay to reimburse themselves for the costs of the employment agencies’ illegal services.”

The conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Thirty-nine individuals were also arrested administratively in this case, and are being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement pending immigration removal proceedings.

Filed by Staffing Industry Analysts, a sister company of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.